


maybe i'm scared

by baekhyunsmoles



Category: Lost in Translation (Webcomic)
Genre: AU Swap, Alternate Universes, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Because I'm not a monster, Does it count as major character death if he doesn't stay dead, Gen, Happy Ending, I hate ao3 tagging can you tell, Jaewon is the goodest boy, Jusnu and Nari are my fav duo i love them, M/M, Minsoo can be an asshole, So much angst, anyway these are probably enough tags, but he's actually a softie, it's tagged no beta for a reason, jjolee supremacy, no beta we die like jaewon's hopes and dreams, yes ik i spelled junsu as jusnu in the tags no i don't care
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-12 13:40:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29261352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/baekhyunsmoles/pseuds/baekhyunsmoles
Summary: When Ahn Jaewon lets himself fall from 12 storeys above, he never reaches the ground.Instead, he wakes up and finds himself in another world, in another life that is almost just like his.In his original place sits an Ahn Jaewon from another universe, who has opened his eyes to realise he has a lot more to deal with than he did a few minutes ago.
Relationships: Ahn Jaewon | Wyld & Junsu, Ahn Jaewon | Wyld & Kang Dongho | D.Min & Kim Daehyun & Lee Minsoo, Ahn Jaewon | Wyld & Kim Daehyun, Ahn Jaewon | Wyld/Kim Daehyun, Junsu & Nari
Comments: 4
Kudos: 19





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> READ THIS FIRST PLEASE 
> 
> okay so!!! The pinwheel star symbols (✵✵✵) come before the au universe (where canon Jaewon is, who i will be referring to as Jaewon) and the empty star symbols (✧✧✧) come before canon universe (where au Jaewon is, who i will be referring to as Jae).
> 
> I hope this made sense but even if it didn't i'll put this at the end of all the chapters!!! (The pinwheel stars didn't come up in this chapter but they will be used for this entire fic)

Let it not be said that Fate is fair.

Fate is random and She is uncaring.

It is by Her hand that the just man rots away in squalor.

It is by Her hand that the tyrant lives in the lap of luxury.

But it is also by Her hand that, when Ahn Jaewon lets himself fall from 12 storeys above, he never reaches the ground. 

Instead, he wakes up and finds himself in another world, in another life, and where all his worries have disappeared. 

In his original place sits an Ahn Jaewon from another universe, who has opened his eyes to realise he has a lot more to deal with than he did a few minutes ago.

Let it not be said that Fate is fair.

* * *

Jaewon swings his legs over the rooftop railing, carefully balancing himself on the thankfully stable guardrail. He clenches the rail in both hands. One wrong step would send him flying over, down to certain death. No matter how many times he climbs up here, it doesn’t get any less terrifying. But it’s oddly freeing, and so he keeps coming back.

Right now, he may or may not be avoiding Mayhem. It’s not their fault, but Jaewon knows that they would try to make small talk, try to ask him how his trip home went, and he doesn’t think he can bear to talk to anyone, not until he hears from his mom. Not until the weight pressing on his chest and pushing all the air out goes away.

But time ticks on, no message arrives from his mom, and breath evades him. Jaewon unlocks his phone to check the call log every few seconds, just in case his phone isn’t working or he missed her call. 

_Maybe she didn’t notice the bag?_

Jaewon wants to believe that, believe that she hasn’t even seen the letter yet and any moment now, she’s going to realise he left behind his bag and open it. 

But realistically, he knows it’s not what happened. The apartment isn’t big enough for that, and Jaewon’s had years of experience with his mom’s need to wander through the rooms when she’s bored. It’s just not possible that she hasn’t entered his room yet.

He waits a few more minutes, fingernails tapping his phone anxiously.

The screen remains frustratingly black.

Jaewon waits for a long time.

Hours blur into each other and somehow the sun sets and darkness casts over the sky without him realising.

This silence can only mean one thing, Jaewon's painfully aware of the fact.

Jaewon knows that if he only had one person on his side a day ago, he now has none.

His chest constricts at the thought.

The rail digs into his thighs and Jaewon's limbs ache from balancing himself on the rail all day. Ignoring the burn, swinging his legs, he looks down and _oh_.

He's higher up than he thought.

It's easier to let go of the rail, easier to fall than he thought it would be.

* * *

~✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧~

When Jae wakes up, the first thought in his head is _'fuck, I’m so late for practice. Minsoo-hyung's going to kill me_ '.

The second is ' _wait, why am I in a hospital?_ '.

There isn't anything out of the ordinary about the hospital room, but Jae has no idea what he did to land himself in said room. Daehyun is asleep, drowning in a hoodie and curled up to fit in the chair beside Jae's bed and Minsoo is slouched in another chair next to him.

Minsoo notices him struggling to sit up and gets up to help.

"Wyld," Minsoo begins after he sits up, and Jae can tell hear the quiet rage in his voice, "what the absolute fuck were you thinking? Do you have any idea—"

Jae's not sure what he's done, but hearing Minsoo speak through gritted teeth, fists clenched, he knows he fucked up royally.

But wait, something seems off to him about what Minsoo said.

"What's Wyld?" Jae blurts out, interrupting Minsoo, whose expression morphs from fury to confusion.

"Is this some sort of weird prank?" Minsoo demands.

"I'm sorry," Jae says, smiling apologetically, "am I supposed to know what Wyld is?"

Minsoo's expression melts into concern.

"Do you mean it?" He asks cautiously, "you don't know what Wyld is?"

Jae's smile takes on a strained edge. 

"Yes, that's what I just said. Repeatedly."

Minsoo doesn't even reply to the dig, just stares at him before muttering something about talking to the doctor and leaving the room.

_What the hell was that about?_

Jae reaches for his phone and clicks the home button to reveal a lock screen he doesn't remember setting, the lock screen being a picture he doesn't remember ever seeing.

It's not the weirdest thing to happen to him since he woke up so he shrugs it off. He goes to unlock the phone but his passwords come up as wrong. He tries again, only to get the same result.

Jae is on his sixth try when Daehyun wakes up.

"Oh," he says, leaning over to peer at Jae's phone, "did you forget your password? It's our debut date. You have the same password for everything.”

"I already tried that," Jae said frustratedly.

Daehyun holds his hand out and Jae places his phone in it. 

Facing the screen towards the both of them, Daehyun enters a date, which the phone accepts and unlocks.

Jae silently takes the phone back but his mind is racing.

_But our debut date is a few days after that?_

Did he forget Mayhem's debut date? Minsoo's never going to let him live this down.

Jae opens his mouth to beg Daehyun to not tell Minsoo or Dongho but Daehyun shifts in his seat and his hood falls off his head. 

Jae can only stare, open-mouthed.

“ _How_ and _why_ is your hair blue? God, how long have I been out for?” Jae demands. Everything has been a little off ever since he woke up, but this really takes the cake. They’re in the middle of comeback preparations, so there’s no way Daehyun could just suddenly dye his hair blue. They haven’t even finished filming the music video, and besides, Daehyun has had red hair since debut.

Daehyun gives him a weird look, like he has no idea what to say. Jae waits for Daehyun to reply, and explain, but he just mumbles something about not falling for the joke and leaves it at that. 

Uncomfortable silence fills the space between them and no matter how hard Jae stares at Daehyun, mentally willing him to explain the sudden change in hair colour, Daehyun manages to avoid eye contact. Jae has nearly given up when he remembers his conversation with Minsoo.

"Oh right, do you know what a Wyld is?"

"What?"

"Minsoo-hyung said something about a Wyld and he looked at me weirdly and left when I asked what it was," Jae explains.

Daehyun laughs nervously. "You’re making a lot of weird jokes today."

The beginnings of worry begin to eat away at the corners of Jae’s mind. Did he forget something so important that none of them can fathom that he might not be joking? 

“Just tell me, please,” Jae begged, afraid of the answer.

“Hyung...it’s you.”

“Huh?”

_What does that even mean?_

"It's your stage name, Wyld," Daehyun continues, "Do you not remember?"

Jae’s anxiety gives way to anger. Were they trying to prank him? A rebuttal is at the tip of Jae's tongue. He's ready to say _yeah no, I think I would remember if my stage name changed from Jae to Wyld._

But, for whatever reason, call it a gut feeling, he holds his tongue and smiles and nods like his memory has miraculously returned. Once Daehyun is distracted, he searches up Wyld on his phone.

After skimming through many different articles, the feeling in his gut has solidified into a stone. Jae looks up Mayhem too, and the stone only gets heavier.

He looks up at Daehyun and asks,

"Do you believe in alternate universes?"


	2. Chapter 2

Jaewon is alive.

Well, for now. Minsoo will kill him the second he sees him. And honestly, he deserves it.

Jaewon rolls over in bed, and the first alarm bell begins ringing in his mind. 

He’s not sore at all. Nothing hurts. He’s not even in the hospital. He’s in the dorm. 

Well, his head aches, but not in the skull-splitting I-just-jumped-off-a-ten-storey-building way he expected. 

It throbs though, a specific area on the back of his head. Jaewon winces, reaching behind his head to feel for a bump, but his arm hits something.

The second alarm bell starts blaring.

Daehyun. He bumped into Daehyun, who’s asleep. In his bed. Next to him. Their faces are more than right next to each other, probably only a few inches apart, and Jaewon thinks he can feel Daehyun’s breath on his face. 

Muffling a surprised shriek, Jaewon scrambles to sit up. He tries not to move the bed but ends up waking Daehyun up anyway, who yawns and rubs at his eyes sleepily, red hair falling into his eyes.

Wait.

Red hair?

Either Jaewon is going crazy, or Daehyun was blue haired the last time he saw him.

Jaewon would normally trust his memory, but the way the past five minutes have gone, both possibilities seem to be equally likely.

Daehyun smiles at him, as if nothing is odd with this situation, and reaches for Jaewon’s hand. Jaewon belatedly realises what Daehyun is doing and instinctively jerks out of reach. Daehyun’s face falls and Jaewon instantly regrets it. 

A second later, Daehyun’s smile has returned and his hand has come to rest on Jaewon’s leg. Transfixed by the hand, it takes a minute for Jaewon to realise Daehyun is speaking.

“—sure you’re okay? You hit your head pretty hard when you fell. Minsoo-hyung was really worried. You should be more careful during practice next time.”

Maybe Jaewon hit his head harder than the others realised because he doesn’t remember any of what Daehyun is describing. He doesn’t remember much of Mayhem’s last dance practice but he remembers enough to know that it was just another uneventful, grueling few hours of dancing under Minsoo’s strict surveillance.

What Jaewon does remember is the feeling of solid ground giving way to nothing but air underneath him, the busy street next to the company building rapidly growing closer under his own eyes.

“I...hit my head...during dance practice?” Jaewon asks hesitantly.

A flash of worry crosses Daehyun's face. He crosses the distance between them before Jaewon can react and his hand moves from Jaewon’s leg to his face.

“Yeah, you did. We were just going through the chorus for Be The Change when you suddenly just...fell over. Do you not remember?” Daehyun asks, cupping his face, concern written all over his expression and dripping from his voice. 

Jaewon can’t think. He’s being overloaded with information that makes no sense to him and Daehyun is just _too close._ His touch is burning through his skin and _Jaewon can’t breathe._

There’s a solid _thump_ sound when Jaewon falls back on the floor but he can’t hear it over the sound of his blood rushing through his ears. Daehyun’s arm is still outstretched and he’s staring at Jaewon, eyes blown open wide in surprise, mouth opening as if to say something. Jaewon doesn’t stick around to hear what it is.

The bathroom has not magically changed locations, for which Jaewon is grateful. At least some parts of his life are making sense. The floor tiles are cold and damp underneath him and Jaewon sinks to the floor, shuddering with every breath. He sits with his knees hugged to his chest, trying to breathe. 

About ten minutes and a few steady breaths later, Jaewon is regretting running out of the room.

 _There’s probably a reasonable explanation for everything,_ he thinks, getting up, _I really overreacted._ He walks over to the sink, resolving to go and apologize to Daehyun. 

Before he can even turn on the faucet, Jaewon looks up into the mirror and sees the shock of blue on his head. He instantly touches it, barely believing it when the image in the mirror does the same.

 _Reasonable explanation,_ Jaewon laughs to himself. _Yeah sure, there’s a reasonable explanation for all of this._

* * *

~✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧~

Daehyun doesn’t even consider Jae’s question.

“Alternative universes? What are you talking about? Get some sleep.”

Jae wants to argue, wants to insist that something freaky is going on and he’s pretty sure he’s in the wrong universe. But Daehyun pulls up his hood and slumps into his shoulders, eyes closed, which doesn’t leave much room for argument. 

Jae watches him fall asleep in less than five minutes.

 _He literally just woke up_ , he marvels. 

After Daehyun falls asleep, Jae figures he might as well do some research. It takes him a few tries to remember the date Daehyun had inputted, but he manages to unlock his phone.

(His? Can it be called his? It does technically belong to Ahn Jaewon, even if it's not the same iteration as the one currently holding it) 

He opens the same tab from before and it loads to show ‘Mayhem - Boy Band’ written at the top, followed by various articles, all headlined something similar to ‘Playboy idol WYLD under fire for inappropriate behaviour.’

Jae’s seen all of these articles before, all of these headlines.

Except, they all had Daehyun’s name on them.

He opens the first article, the most recent one. There’s a grainy picture, which is more than a bit blurry, but it’s clearly Wyld standing there, holding onto a woman’s wrist in what seems to be a club.

The picture is exactly the same, down to the dress the woman is wearing. It’s the picture some paparazzo caught of Daehyun a while ago. Jae remembers that picture like it’s seared into the back of his eyelids. He remembers all the pictures of Daehyun’s scandals.

Well, Wyld’s scandals, in this universe. He already knows what he’s going to find, but Jae checks the rest of the articles, all of them identical to a scandal Daehyun had gotten into.

 _So in this reality,_ I’m _the selfish fuckboy. Nice to know._

Jae goes to search ‘alternate realities’ next. He’s already sure of his situation, but what he sees only confirms it. He skims through articles, most of them saying the same thing.

He clicks the power button and sighs. He hasn’t gotten any idea of how to get back to his universe or how he even got here, but he’s pretty sure there’s something to do with tears in the very fabric of time. Whatever is it, changing things in this Jaewon’s life will only make it worse. He needs to lay low and act as normal as possible.

As if on cue, Minsoo enters the room, Dongho in tow.

“We need to talk,” he says.

**Author's Note:**

> so to recap!! the pinwheel star (✵✵✵) symbols are for the au universe and the empty star (✧✧✧) symbols are for canon universe.
> 
> Jae is Jaewon from the au universe, and i will be referring to him as his stage name, Jae, to help differentiate between the Jaewons. He is currently in canon universe.
> 
> Jaewon is the Jaewon we all know and love, and he will be called Jaewon. He is currently in au universe.
> 
> Hope this helped!!!


End file.
